This invention relates to a mounting apparatus for an outside rear view mirror assembly of a vehicle such as an automotive vehicle.
There have been two types of apparatus for mounting an outside rear view mirror assembly on an exterior body panel of a vehicle proposed; one type is constructed such that the mirror assembly is mounted on the exterior body panel by means of screws, which are screwed in from the outside of the exterior body panel, and the other type is constructed such that the mirror assembly is mounted on the exterior body panel by means of nuts which are fitted from the inside of the exterior body panel. Though the former type is undesirable in that the screw heads are exposed to the weather, it is widely used owing to the fact that it is superior to the latter type in ease of mounting the mirror assembly on the exterior body panel. Two kinds of mounting apparatus which belong to the former type are known in the art; one is shown in FIG. 1 and the other in FIG. 2.
Referring to FIG. 1, one of the above two kinds of mounting apparatus is explained in connection with a mounting structure attained thereby.
This mounting apparatus includes two nuts 2 and 2 which are welded to an exterior body panel 4 of a vehicle at the inside surface thereof. Generally designated by the reference numeral 6 is an outside rear view mirror assembly of an ordinary type which includes a mirror 8 and a mirror supporting arm 10 on which the mirror 8 is pivotably supported. The mirror supporting arm 10 is provided with a base section 10a having a generally flat surface to be secured to a generally flat configured base pad 12 which is in turn to be secured to the exterior body panel 4. The mirror supporting arm 10 is attached in fixed relation to the exterior body panel 4 over the base pad 12 by means of two screws 14 and 14 which are screwed into the nuts 2 and 2 through holes 10b and 10b formed in the base section 10a, respectively.
In this mounting apparatus, the nuts 2 and 2 are required to be welded to the exterior body panel 4 prior to the process of mounting the mirror assembly 6 on the exterior body panel 4, which inevitably complicates the manufacturing process of a vehicle body. Hence, the apparatus is inapplicable to the body panel 4 unless the latter has the nuts 2 and 2 welded thereto.
Referring to FIG. 2, the other of the foregoing two kinds of mounting apparatus is explained in connection with a mounting structure attained thereby.
This mounting structure is mainly different from the mounting structure of FIG. 1 in that two screw accommodation openings 15 and 15 are formed in the exterior body panel 4 to receive self-tapping screws 16 and 16, respectively. The mirror supporting arm 10 is attached in fixed relation to the exterior body panel 4 over the base pad 12 by means of the self-tapping screws 16 and 16 which are screwed into the openings 15 and 15 through holes 10b and 10b, respectively.
This mounting apparatus has a disadvantage that the self-tapping screws 16 and 16 damage the paint coating of the body member 4 around the screw accommodation openings 15 and 15 when the self-tapping screws 16 and 16 are screwed into the openings 15 and 15, respectively. Due to this damage of the paint coating around the openings 15 and 15, the portions of the exterior body panel 4 around the openings 15 and 15 tend to rust extensively after a relatively short period of usage of this kind of mounting apparatus, and resultantly the assured mount of the mirror assembly on the body member can be possibly impaired in a relatively short period of usage.